We have just come through quite a cold spell of weather. At one stage I didn’t think we were going to get a winter at all. I picked flowers over Christmas and through early January that shouldn’t have flowered for weeks or even months. So, apart from the fact that I live in a freezing cold house, I was relieved when the temperature dropped. I do worry about climate change, and plastic waste, and waste in general and so much more. Talking things over with friends and family, and generally driving my nearest and dearest mad, I began to work out a new project. This will be my own small effort to reduce my carbon footprint while generating less waste.

February 2019

We have an area around our house, probably about the size of the average garden which I am going to turn into a traditional cottage garden. Herbs by the house, and a small veg plot surrounded by fruit and flowers. Within this space I am going to attempt to grow the bulk of the food that Peter and I eat.

I am joining forces with Madeline McKeever (Brown Envelope Seeds) who is aiming to do a similar thing but on a larger scale, concentrating on experimenting with staple crops. We intend to blog, photograph and even video at regular intervals, sharing our experiences as widely as possible and recording all inputs, outputs, and methods of production. More importantly we are going to have a lot of fun along the way, hosting regular lunches with friends and family, swapping ideas, recipes, seeds, plants and other excess produce. Exchanges and barters and lots more.I’m off to mark out my small veg plot. This is a challenge in itself as Peter and I have different ideas on what constitutes ‘squares’ and ‘straight lines’. But then again, it is my plot. A belated happy New Year to you all and a Happy Valentines, may the weather be with us.